You hear a shriek from the family room. You find your child near tears because Henry, the family dog, just ran through your child's board game. You say, "Remember to stop and think. Ask yourself how your body feels. I can tell that you're angry. Calm down. Remember what you said to yourself when you needed to calm down the other day? Try saying those things again. Now that you're calm, et's go through the problem solving steps you learned to see if we can keep Henry from messing up your game the next time."
Tomorrow I will send home a copy of the poster "What to Do When You Are Angry" that we used in the classroom. Feel free to post it at home.
At home activity idea: Write each of the calming-down methods on a small piece of paper. Fold each piece and place all in a container. Present your child with a pretend situation that might cause him or her to become angry (such as a sibling taking the last cookie). Your child then draws a piece of paper from the container and shows you how to use that particular calming-down method.